Backup QB Rallies Kits Past Glenbrook North

Evanston’s football team finally found the answer for its fourth quarter woes.

Just give the ball to a defensive lineman --- and let him score the game-winning touchdown.

Daryl Harmon, in only his second varsity start at quarterback, plowed 4 yards for a score with just 45 seconds left in the game Friday night and rallied the Wildkits to a 17-14 victory at Glenbrook North.

One of the more unique players ever to wear the Orange and Blue because he also starts on the defensive line, Harmon stepped in for starter Colin Livatino and guided the Kits to their third win of the season. The 6-foot, 220-pound senior carried 15 times for a game-high 82 yards on the ground and also completed 13-of-18 passing attempts for 75 yards for the winners.

Evanston, now 3-5 overall and 2-2 in Central Suburban League South division play, will close out the regular season next Friday at home versus Maine South.

Harmon drove the visitors 80 yards in 11 plays after North’s Jonah Kleiman missed a 39-yard field goal try with 5 minutes left on the clock. His 18-yard burst on a fake reverse play --- just one play after the GBN defense buried Mike Pryor and shoved him back outside the red zone with a 13-yard loss --- set the stage for the subsequent winning score.

Harmon has spent all of his career backing up Livatino, who wasn’t available at QB Friday because he was ejected in the final seconds of last week’s loss to Deerfield and had to watch from the sidelines this week.

Quarterbacks who play both ways typically play in the defensive backfield, or occasionally at linebacker. That’s what makes Harmon, a defensive end, a unicorn.

“That’s the strangest combination I’ve ever seen in my life,” said veteran Evanston head coach Mike Burzawa. “And he’s been doing it ever since he came here. I was actually going to play him at running back this year, but he really emerged for us on the defensive line like I knew he would.

“I just love his toughness and his determination. He’s a great leader and that’s why he’s one of our captains. And even though he’s hit or miss as a passer on any given day, he’s also improved his passing. We can still run the majority of our offense with him in there.

“We knew this would be a fight for four quarters tonight. It was old-fashioned football with a lot of running by both sides. Daryl has such outstanding leadership skills and the word that I think of with him is consistency. He’s so reliable, so dependable, and to me real greatness is that kind of consistency. I know he loves playing quarterback but he also knows the team needs him in the defensive line. He has a huge heart.”

Harmon started the Palatine contest in Week 3 (25-19 loss) at quarterback when Livatino was out with an injury and was ready when his number was called again this week.

“I was a linebacker when I came here (to ETHS),” Harmon recalled, “but my freshman year we had a package (on offense) where I took snaps. I played a couple of games at quarterback when Colin was hurt that year, and every year I’ve worked at it.

“This is my first varsity win at QB and it’s a great feeling. I really appreciate all of my brothers on this team for the way they supported me this week in practice. I’ll love them all for the rest of my life. To be honest, I didn’t have a perfect or amazing game tonight but the coaches really showed a lot of trust in me at the end. That really builds your confidence up when people trust you like that.”

Harmon’s last minute heroics were only possible because of a fourth down run by Ryan Wambo from his own 27 to the midfield stripe on a reverse that kept the drive alive. Later, Harmon hooked up with Wambo for his longest completion of the night, a 28-yarder down to the GBN 9.

That reverse play featuring Wambo set up the fake version, as Harmon raced 18 yards around right end down to the 4. He scored after a lengthy delay as a Spartan player had to be removed from the field via ambulance due to an injury.

Evanston’s offense only mustered a 26-yard field goal by Jasper Barney early in the second quarter, but the Kits got an unexpected lift from the defense with a rare takeaway for a score. Pryor punched the ball away from GBN quarterback Sam Gaffney and Jamarcus White scooped up the loose ball and raced 14 yards to the end zone with exactly 60 seconds left in the first half. The turnover lifted the visitors to a 10-7 halftime lead.

Glenbrook North regained the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, when Gaffney (7-of-19 for 179 yards and two touchdowns) fired a 60-yard bomb to Rocco Marquez to the delight of the home crowd in Northbrook.

“We were down three offensive starters tonight and that was a heckuva team effort,” Burzawa said. “When push came to shove, our guys really rallied. We struggled on offense but the defense got us a huge turnover for that scoop and score. When it counted, we executed.”